108. [Scene] Na Hee-yeon
108. [Scene] Na Hee-yeon
Pant... pant... pant...!!
Seo Ha-yoon's Stamina stat was decently high.
Even considering she'd sprinted all the way here, there was no reason she should be this out of breath.
So why was it so hard to breathe?
'Uwaaaaah... Th-the two of them, completely naked... that close together...'
She'd only glimpsed the scene for a moment, yet it remained seared vividly into her brain.
Choi Hye-yong—the only guy she considered a close friend.
Na Hee-yeon—her one and only best friend.
The sight of those two, completely bare, pressed right up against each other, faces flushed, gasping for breath... Starting today, it felt like something she'd never be able to forget for the rest of her life.
'If they're... doing that kind of thing, then th-they're going out?'
Without realizing it, she found herself sliding down to sit against the front door.
Surely it was just from the shock, more than anything else.
That had to be it.
'So that's what they were to each other. I had no idea...'
It wasn't a big deal.
A guy and girl the same age could date, and they could do that kind of thing too, couldn't they?
If they were in a relationship, there was no problem at all.
It wasn't a big deal, really, and yet...
Why did her chest feel so tight?
'I didn't know. I thought she was my one and only best friend. I didn't even know Hee-yeon had a boyfriend.'
And of all people, it was someone in the same party.
Wasn't it Choi Hye-yong, whose face they all saw without fail five times a week?
If the two of them were actually dating, there was no way she wouldn't have known.
Unless she was exceptionally clueless, that is.
'Was I... really that clueless? So clueless I didn't catch that kind of atmosphere at all?'
And if that wasn't the case...
'They were deliberately hiding it from me?'
She didn't know.
If she ever got a boyfriend herself, she would have definitely told her best friend Na Hee-yeon and asked for advice.
Having a boyfriend was a huge deal—how could she not have worries about it?
If they were best friends, sharing that kind of worry and thinking it over together was the least they could do.
At least, Seo Ha-yoon had thought so.
'Maybe Hee-yeon... didn't want to do that with me...'
That was possible too.
Ha-yoon understood completely.
Everyone had their secrets, and there were things you might not want to say, even to your best friend.
Expecting someone else to act the same way you would was selfish.
She knew that.
She knew that, so why wouldn't this suffocating feeling go away?
'I feel like... I'm the only one left out...'
'I didn't even know they were dating. I wonder if Hwa-ra and Ah-young knew?'
'If the two of them get together, do I just naturally get pushed away?'
Of course, just because they were dating didn't mean she would stop being best friends with Hee-yeon.
But her priority would definitely drop. That was certain.
Hee-yeon would spend more time with Hye-yong, and there might be times when she wouldn't join her even if she asked to hang out.
No, there definitely would be.
'She might not even eat with me anymore... I don't have any other friends besides our party...'
Her heart ached again when she thought that, to Hye-yong, Hee-yeon was probably a far higher priority than someone like her.
It wasn't jealousy, or anything like that.
Bitterness...
It was just bitterness.
"Fuuuuu..."
Seo Ha-yoon let out a sigh, stood up, lightly slapped both her cheeks, and pulled herself together.
'Why am I thinking weird thoughts, Seo Ha-yoon! If they're dating, I should be supporting them!'
As she went further inside, she spotted the box of cookies she'd prepared to give Hye-yong.
She slipped off the attached letter, trimmed it down as concisely as possible, and stuck it back on.
'Because I shouldn't give any impression of trying to wedge myself between them...'
'Still, we can keep being close friends, right?'
"Haah."
Huh? Did I just sigh?
She flinched in surprise at her own unconscious reaction.
'What's wrong with me?'
The moment she thought that, the scene etched into her brain surfaced once more.
'Th-that's right! It's just because I saw that for the first time, and it shocked me!'
They say some people have never watched porn even once, but no one has ever watched it just once.
The pure-hearted Seo Ha-yoon was definitely the former.
The only naked male body she had ever seen was her dad's when she was little.
So, it couldn't be helped that she kept thinking about it.
She figured it would get better with time.
'Tonight, I'll just wash up quickly and go to sleep!'
She'd just taken off her uniform jacket and was unbuttoning her dress shirt when it happened.
Beep, beep-beep-beep!
Just like she had done, the sound of the door lock's passcode being entered reached her ears.
'Huh?'
No way...
-
Up top, a light jersey; on the bottom, dolphin shorts. Na Hee-yeon walked down the dormitory hallway.
"Hee-yeon, are you seriously going through with this?"
"I have no choice! I need to go with you and at least explain! And of course... I'm going to ask Ha-yoon what she thinks, clearly."
Walking behind her, Hye-yong agonized over whether he should try to stop this or not.
'Ah, whatever, I dunno anymore.'
In the end, he just gave up thinking about it.
Whatever happened from here on out wasn't his responsibility anyway.
'Come to think of it, aren't I basically in an irresponsibly advantageous position here?'
That thought made him shut his mouth firmly.
Hye-yong quietly followed behind Hee-yeon.
"Hoooh."
Standing in front of Seo Ha-yoon's room, Na Hee-yeon took a deep breath, then immediately opened the door lock and began entering the passcode without a moment's hesitation.
'Wow, zero hesitation...'
Ssreuk.
The door slid open.
Click.
It clicked shut with all three of them inside the room.
"Huh? Huhhh?"
His eyes met directly with Seo Ha-yoon, who was in the middle of unbuttoning her shirt.
White.
A plain, unadorned bra cupped a modestly sized chest.
He called it modest, but that was only compared to Na Hee-yeon—it looked bigger than a B-cup.
"Hyuh?! Hyit?! Hee-hee-hee, Hee-yeon? Hye-yong?! Wh-what is th-this?!"
Seo Ha-yoon had absolutely no grasp of the situation.
'If I were her, I wouldn't be able to grasp the situation either, holy shit.'
Na Hee-yeon slipped off her shoes and strode right in.
Hye-yong silently followed behind.
"U-uh, uh, uh, um, you gu-guys...?"
Hee-yeon walked around behind Seo Ha-yoon, smoothly turned Ha-yoon's body around, and pulled her into a hug.
"Ha-yoon, calm down. First, calm down."
"I-if you, you t-tell me to calm d-down..."
"Ha-yoon, calm down."
"...O-okay."
Huh.
All she did was hug her lightly and tell her to calm down in a gentle voice, and the atmosphere of Seo Ha-yoon, who'd been in a state of extreme panic, instantly stabilized.
You could tell she was an expert at handling Seo Ha-yoon. Anyone who doubted they were best friends only had to see this.
'Well, yeah. Anyone would calm down being hugged against that chest.'
Though if it were a guy, a different part of him would start pulsing instead.
She always talked about it being a burden, but she clearly knew exactly how to use it.
"Listen, Ha-yoon. Whatever you're thinking, it's all a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding...? Whatever I'm thinking...?"
"Yeah. Will you tell me what you were thinking?"
"I thought... you two were in a relationship."
Na Hee-yeon patted Ha-yoon's back while still holding her.
"It's not like that."
"It's not? You're not dating? Then why..."
"That's, well..."
Na Hee-yeon's gaze shifted towards Hye-yong.
Right now, Hee-yeon was facing Hye-yong while holding Ha-yoon in her arms.
Her lips moved slowly.
Play
a
long
with
me
Hye-yong watched Hee-yeon's face twist with sadness and anguish.
There was no choice but to answer that he understood.
I'm
on
it
He deliberately made his mouth movements big as he answered. Hee-yeon squeezed her eyes shut tight.
"I did it because... I was curious."
Her voice was incredibly gentle, considering the face she was making that looked like she'd steeled herself for something huge.
Though, of course, her face looked more sorrowful than ever.
"Curious...?"
"I saw it on the internet. They said it feels incredibly good. I was curious, I... wanted to try it, but... I don't know any other guys, you know. The only person I could ask something like that was Hye-yong, so I asked him."
"But... isn't that something only people who are dating do?"
Na Hee-yeon's face now looked like that of a person who had let go of everything.
He had a feeling he knew what she was about to say.
'I-is that really okay, Hee-yeon? Are you really okay with showing your best friend, the one you want to keep for life, an image of yourself as someone who just fucks anybody out of simple curiosity?!'
Na Hee-yeon slowly opened her mouth.
"I was ju-just too curious... I did a bad thing. Hic... We're absolutely not dating or anything... Hye-yong just went along with my bad idea, that's all. Right, Hye-yong?"
Hye-yong, who couldn't help but admire her resolve, answered while defending Hee-yeon as best he could.
"Yeah, well... I was curious too. Call it a bit of rebellion, or a change of pace, I guess. Thinking about it now, it's maybe not even that bad of a thing..."
Hee-yeon's expression crumpled again, like she was about to cry, and she spoke.
"Ha-yoon, you won't hate me, right? You'll still stay best friends with me, even if I'm this kind of friend? We won't get awkward, and you'll be my friend forever, right?"
This time, it was Ha-yoon who pulled Hee-yeon into a hug.
"I don't hate my friend over something like that. Hee-yeon, you're my best friend!"
"Ha-yoooon..."
Mm.
Well, it worked out in the end after all.
He had no doubt that this served as a sufficient excuse.
Now, if they just ended this peacefully and turned away as if nothing had happened...
"In that case, Ha-yoon... do you want to do a bad thing together too?"
...Huh?
'Wh-what the hell.'
Hye-yong urgently looked at Hee-yeon's eyes.
They had gone just as crazy as when he'd looked earlier.
"Y-you want me... to do a bad thing too...?"
"I said it felt incredibly good. I felt bad being the only one to experience something like this. I want to share the same experience with you."
N-Na Hee-yeon! What the hell are you thinking?!
You could have just ended it here!
Hye-yong questioned her with his eyes, but Na Hee-yeon showed no sign of changing her words.
'I need to clear this up definitively.'
'I don't know what kind of relationship Hye-yong and Ha-yoon will have in the future, but I can't leave it as some vague thing we got caught doing.'
'No matter what happens, we're friends. So we can't leave even the slightest bit of resentment.'
There was fear inside Hee-yeon.
That day, when she knelt and apologized to Seo Ha-yoon.
— It's okay, Hee-yeon. Things have been really hard for you, haven't they?
— I'm okay. We're friends.
— No matter what happens, we're friends.
She could never forget the time she bawled her eyes out in Seo Ha-yoon's arms.
How deeply relieved she'd felt, receiving that gentle touch and warm sincerity.
That day, a conviction had been seared fiercely into Na Hee-yeon's heart: a friend like Seo Ha-yoon was someone she would never meet again, even if she lived ten lifetimes.
So, even if it meant doing it this way...
'I'm sorry, Ha-yoon. I'm a terrible person. But I want to forge an even closer bond with you this way. Sharing the same experience...'
Even a little thought made it obvious that this kind of deception could end up earning her resentment over time.
But there had already been one crisis where she nearly lost her friend Seo Ha-yoon, and now, facing a second one, Na Hee-yeon's mind was no longer functioning properly.
'...Yeah, she's a lost cause.'
Watching her eyes narrow like someone scheming a wicked plot, Hye-yong clicked his tongue and looked at the back of Seo Ha-yoon's head.
'Ha-yoon. You're still capable of rational thought, right?! Right? Just ten seconds of thinking should tell you something is off! No matter how naive you are, you should have that much common sense!'
Right?
"Bad thing... same experience... share..."
Uh... Ha-yoon?
Thump, thump, thump.
Contrary to Hye-yong's hopes, Ha-yoon's heart was pounding right now.
'To think Hee-yeon wants to share even this kind of experience with me...'
'I was an idiot for worrying about being pushed away or left out!'
'We're best friends. The kind that even do this risky-looking bad stuff together...'
Seo Ha-yoon felt relieved.
Once, at finding out the two of them weren't dating or anything like that.
Twice, at Na Hee-yeon confessing this secret to her and suggesting they do it together.
And three times, at the fact the person she'd be doing the bad thing with was Hye-yong.
'If it's Hye-yong... I don't think I'd mind doing something like that! Actually, my heart is racing...'
The innocent Seo Ha-yoon, completely swept away by the absurd situation and her own emotions, nodded her head.
"Okay, fine."
Wh-what?
Ha-yoon?
"I'll try... the bad thing. If I'm doing it together with you, Hee-yeon, then I'm not scared."
"I'm so happy you'll even do this with me. You really are the best friend ever."
"Uh..."
For a moment, Hye-yong felt his mind go completely blank.
A situation spiraling into madness.
Maybe the brain cells diligently processing things inside his head had gone crazy too, because they started going "We don't know anymore either~" and fed every piece of paper with the word "common sense" written on it straight into a shredder.
And into that empty space, three things settled: the situation itself, what was about to happen, and a single desire.
'Oh...'
A threesome angle honed to razor sharpness, the imminent future of fucking both Na Hee-yeon and Seo Ha-yoon at the same time!
'Actually, that's even better.'
And... a boiling, rising lust.